Are you sure loft living is right for you?

While it's true that I have had no formal schooling in psychology and will readily confess that people’s true motivations have been successfully (and sometimes, disastrously) hidden from me numerous times, I am comfortable in saying that I have been able to figure people out way many more times than not.  And I have an insight I’d like to share with you.

No one living here at Glen Iris Lofts would need much of a ‘sixth sense’ to readily see the iron wall that immediately goes up around Kit and Stuart Sutherland when they’re told something could be improved or is less than perfect the way it is.  Their reaction is quick and it's almost visceral.  Frankly, the speed and degree to which they so frequently take offense when others are merely  trying to earnestly, and with good intention, participate in the improvement of our shared community, has always struck me as just plain weird.  And, while I wish I could report that I had those two all figured out, all I can say is that I am confident that I have identified at least part of the problem and what may, at least, partially explain why they seem to rub so many people the wrong way.

As is true with anyone, the key to making sense of someone’s behavior lies in recognizing that you have to try to understand where people are coming from, first.  And, up until recently, I would have told you that I hadn’t even a micro-clue on where those two are coming from – and not for want of thought or contemplation on my part, either. (Continued...)

Let's take it back!

Tired of backroom deals, half-truths and feeling like what's really being managed around here is you?

Change is coming.  Be a part of it.

Suther-spam: Part 3 – Stuart’s watered down truth hoses homeowners

As anyone in attendance at the Annual Meeting can attest, there was a lively discussion about water.  All that seemed to be flying around the room there for a while was water: prior water billing, water meters, water conservation, water budgeting, current water billing, water, water and more water.

And no wonder - 13% of the 15% increase in dues for 2012 is directly linked to the Board's budgeted item of $70,000 to pay for water and sewer service for the coming year.

But what was also flying around the room, as it turns out, was a lot of bullshit about water, too. So, if you left the meeting a little bewildered by all the assertions, proposals, claims and counter-claims going around that evening, you're not alone.  Many homeowners had difficulty making sense of it all.  So, in an effort to help homeowners separate the water from the bullshit about water (Continued...)

Queen for a day: What would you change about GIL if you were Kit forjust one day?

The Blog wants to hear what's been on your mind when it comes to things you would change about life here at GIL. Just imagine that you were the Queen of Glen Iris Lofts for just one day. What would you instruct your Board to do?

The edicts don't have to be grand and they don't have to be whatever you think has any reasonable probability of coming about, either. Remember, you're Kit for a day, so what you desire will be!

Share your items with your neighbors by way of posting comment(s) to this post. You may do so anonymously if you wish and you may make as many comments as you would like.

*One request, if I may...please don't post that what you would change is that you could be Queen for all time. Someone's already giving that wish all they got.
And please let's keep the queen jokes to a minimum - I'm aware that there are many queens here at GIL, but I'm not talking about 'queen' like fabulous...I'm talking about 'queen' as in 'off with their heads!'

Suther-spam: Part 2 - Deaf ears and hot air cost homeowners $10,000

This is the second post of a four part fact-checking series brought to you by the Glen Iris Blog.

WHY FACT CHECK?
It doesn't exactly take the observational skills of Angela Lansbury for one to put together pretty quickly that Stuart Sutherland is a man that is seldom wrong about anything.

In fact, Stuart comes across as so right about everything, some might even label him a bit of a Renaissance man - well versed in everything from the nuts and bolts of commercial construction to the nitty-gritty nuances of accounting and business math. So, the Glen Iris Blog thought it might be educational to take several statements and claims made by Stuart Sutherland at our Annual Meeting and do a little fact checking to see if, in fact, he is as knowledgeable as he would have us believe.

DISINFORMATION  At the recent Annual Meeting, one homeowner proposed turning down or off the electric space heaters that dot the stairwells of both the 660 and 640 buildings.  I don't recall the exact dollar figure that the homeowner maintained could be saved annually by this proposed cost cutting measure, but I believe it was on the order of $4,000.

Upon hearing this suggestion, I was awestruck by how quickly and firmly the money saving suggestion was discarded out of hand by Stuart Sutherland.  What was even more telling, to me anyway, was the certainty with which Stuart announced that no money could be saved by the homeowner's suggestion whatsoever.  And if I've learned one thing about Stuart Sutherland, it's that the more adamantly certain he sounds, the more likely it is that what he's saying is pulled straight out of his arse and highly unlikely to have much, if any, truth to it whatsoever.

But, admittedly, that's just my opinion.  So, in an effort to add a measure of empiricism to the debate, the Glen Iris Blog decided to take an independent look at both the claims made by the homeowner and the claims made by Stuart.

FACT   Using actual Georgia Power usage and cost data provided to the Blog by CMA, it turns out that the homeowner and Stuart were both wrong.  In fact, electric space heaters (one of the few things consuming electricity only when it's cold, apart from heat strips to prevent pipes from freezing, however they are only drawing power when the temperature drops below freezing) are almost certainly adding significantly to electricity usage during the winter months. (Continued...)

Suther-spam: Fact checking the Sutherland disinformation machine

This is the first post of a four part fact-checking series brought to you by the Glen Iris Blog.

Suther-spam:  Part 1 - Shut up and pay up

It doesn't exactly take the observational skills of Angela Lansbury for one to put together pretty quickly that Stuart Sutherland is a man that is seldom wrong about anything.

In fact, Stuart comes across as so right about everything, some might even label him a bit of a Renaissance man - well versed in everything from the nuts and bolts of commercial construction to the nitty-gritty nuances of accounting and business math. So, the Glen Iris Blog thought it might be educational to take several statements and claims made by Stuart Sutherland at our Annual Meeting and do a little fact checking to see if, in fact, he is as knowledgeable as he would have us believe. 

*Note: Many homeowners may be unaware of the manner by which our Association adopts a budget.  It's not so much an 'approval process' as it is a 'dissapproval process' - whereby the budget is whatever the Board says it will be.  The only way around that is to have the budget disapproved by way of a procedurally improbable scenario whereby members may disapprove the budget predetermined by the Board at the Annual Meeting.  It would require a minimum of 56 members to be present, in person, at the meeting (not by proxy) and all of whom are in unanimous support of not supporting the budget for the coming year.  Sounds like an attorney's dream come true, doesn't it? It is.

DISINFORMATION   In introducing the 2012 budget, the Board Treasurer - oops, my bad - our Treasurer didn't present the budget to those in attendance at the Annual Meeting (I was momentarily confused because that's the way every other Association on the planet does it, but given the reality that our Board is, and has been for years, more or less a clever democratic-looking disguise for the Sutherlands and their dictatorial hold on our Association, Stuart naturally presented the 2012 budget rather than it being presented by Jennifer Keir, our Treasurer).  Let me try again.  In introducing the 2012 budget, the Board - i.e. Stuart - claimed that the 2012 budget 'holds the line on expenses' and even went as far as to make the claim that, with the exception of the budget item for water and sewer, the 2012 budget contains several items of expense decreases over 2011. (Continued...)

It's still 'Kit's Board' and Fidel's Cuba...

You know how you can always tell when you've had a busy weekend going here, going there, shopping for this and dropping off that....compared with one where you sat around the house not doing much of this and careful to not do too much of that?  Easy.  You end up with a pocket full of receipts and paper doing the former and nary two cotton fibers to rub together doing the later.

And it's no different with GIL Board members as it is with anyone else.  That's how you know that despite their big put-on for the they've-fallen-for-that-crap-for-nearly-six-years-now-so-surely-they-will-again homeowners (you know the skit - Stuart pretends to be on-the-Board-and-In-Charge while
Kit takes a hiatus, sticking her nose into other people's business other than ours), Kit has never really gone anywhere.  She's right where she's been all along - running 'her Board'.
You know how I know? That's simple. (Continued...)

Letter to Georgia State Attorney General: Board’s refusal to provide financials at annual meeting violates State law

Refusal by the GIL Board of Directors to make Association financials available to members upon request is nothing new to homeowners at Glen Iris Lofts.  Despite the fact that such refusal violates provisions of the GIL By-Laws and despite the fact that such refusal appears to be a violation of State law, the Association’s balance sheet, income statement and other important documents detailing the financial health of the Association have, for years, been off-limits to homeowners.

Why the lack of transparency?  One can only speculate, but, according to a copy of a letter obtained by the Glen Iris Blog, it’s the subject of a complaint recently made to the office of Samuel Olens – the Attorney General for the State of Georgia.  The letter maintains that the Board’s long-standing refusal to make Association financials available to members – most recently at the Annual Meeting – is a violation of State law. The letter specifically cites Georgia Code Sec. 44-3-230 – a section of the Georgia Property Owners’ Association Act - that states:

“At the annual meeting, comprehensive reports on the affairs, finances, and budget projections of the association shall be made to the lot owners.”

-Georgia Code 44-3-230

The letter also raises the concern that such a long-standing and steadfast lack of transparency on the part of the Glen Iris Board may be the result of financial malfeasance or misappropriation of Association funds that could be on-going for nearly a decade – with possibly devastating financial repercussions for the 110 Georgians who call Glen Iris Lofts home.

Stay tuned, neighbors…

 

Kit Sutherland: Speak up or stand down

Many homeowners are unaware that Kit Sutherland has been - and continues to be - acting in an official capacity for our Association, despite the fact that she has not been elected to do so by the members of the Association in the last election or the one prior. 'But I thought you have to be elected to serve on the Board' you say. True, you do have to be elected to serve as a Director. But here's where a little loophole in our By-Laws comes in handy. The Board, at it's discretion, can appoint 'Community Officers' - which is exactly what they did with Kit Sutherland. And, as long as the Board is the only entity that determines what names get on the ballot for Director positions, the Sutherlands can make sure they have a Board that is not entirely independent, but, rather, beholden to them.
But those are the rules, and it wouldn't be so egregious if it didn't produce the very undemocratic result of people acting in official capacities on our behalf that answer to no one but the Sutherlands - or in the case of Kit - answering to nobody at all for anything.

And Kit has proven that she answers to no one - especially not commoner homeowners. Despite the allegations that she has had, and continues to have, improper ties with the developer, Kit Sutherland has not said one word on the matter to homeowners publicly. No simple denial. No nothin' - nada, zero, zip, zilch.

And why would she? (Continued...)

Sutherlands hire high-profile attorney amid fraud allegations

Well, it looks like Christmas dinner might not be the only thing heating up in the Sutherland kitchen this year!  I received an e-mail today from a homeowner revealing that, amid allegations of fraud surrounding their alleged business ties with well-known Atlanta developer Jerrold Miller, Stuart and Mary ‘Kit’ Sutherland have recently hired high-profile Atlanta attorney Katherine Hernacki.

According to her firm’s Web site, Ms. Hernacki has ‘handled several high profile matters including...

representation of Richard Jewell in matters arising out of reporting about Mr. Jewell in connection with the bombing of Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, (Continued...)

A holiday recipe for you and yours: Grilled HOA served Sutherland Style!

This is the time of year for family, friends and celebratory feasts - so I thought it would be nice to share a recipe I recently stumbled across in my pantry - Grilled HOA served Sutherland Style .  It's a holiday recipe that is sure to keep you and your family in control of an association’s board for a millennia. Yum!

Note:  This recipe serves: 2
Ingredients:

• 1 spouse
• 1 large bowl of contempt for the poor, hapless homeowners who need you to save them from themselves
• 1 sharp knife (in case anyone’s getting out of line)
• ¾ Cup of nothing better to do
• 1 large ego
• A pinch of delusion (just enough to where you think you are doing everyone a favor)
• 1 Cup each of Plans B and C (in case anyone finds out about what you’ve been up to in the kitchen)!
• 1 Investment tax credit incentive (but any other incentive you have lying about will do ;-)
• A functional egg timer (so you know when your time is up)

Okay, let’s get started!

1. Lay all the Members of the association out on a platter and butter them up real well (if any won’t stay on the platter, just cut those ones off and discard or discredit) (Continued...)
   

A note about leaving blog comments

Just an FYI..I do not believe it is my right nor my responsibility to censor whatever comments grown adults  choose to share with their neighbors. Extreme censorship is one of the main reasons no one uses our intranet to do anything more than get a copy of sanitized Board meeting minutes anymore. If you live here at GIL, then I presume you must have enough sense to decide what's appropriate on your own.

If you see a note that a post has been deleted by the blog administrator, then it was blog spam ("I know this is off topic...but you wanna know how I lost 15 pounds in 2 days...) and I gave it the boot. Unlike some, I actually want to hear what you have to say - even if it's that you think I'm a complete jerk. I'm a grown up and am perfectly able to hold my own.

I would rather our see our community improve by way of genuine and inclusive dialog than allow this forum become what our intranet became - a tool to manipulate what others think and discuss and a place as lacking in fresh ideas and any true spirit of community activism as the people that made it that way.

The Zero-Transparency Team strikes again!

Here's what I want to know...if our current water bill is estimated - like Stuart Sutherland claims - then why is every month's bill different?  They left that little detail out at the meeting, 'natch.

I bet you one of those yummy 'dinners for two to go' from Whole Foods that I know the answer!  Because like everything else they tell you, I think they make that shit up as they go along.  Hello.

Don't believe me?  Then ask yourself why we're probably the only condo association members on the planet that never get a balance sheet at their annual meeting.  Now that I think about it, I don't think we have ever gotten one. By doing that, they are basically telling homeowners that "it's none of your business what we do with your money".  I'm sorry, but I think that's just shady - and hardly very 'neighborly'.  Would somebody please deliver us from the Sutherlands' 'generous' volunteerism before they take our Association over a cliff?

My friends, I think we are being managed, lied to and played for suckers.  Which is why I'm giving myself a consultation with an attorney for Christmas!  Maybe it will help, maybe not.  One thing's for sure - it certainly couldn't make our Board any less transparent than it already is!  Stay tuned...

Board's hot pursuit of developer for $200K problem turns ice cold after Sutherlands assume Board presidency

In an e-mail dated June 4, 2003 (included, below), Sandra Jones, the first GIL Board President (and until 2011, the only non-Sutherland Board President), asks Mike Beecham (an associate with Piedmont Management Company, the management company GIL used prior to switching to CMA) to have Gary Caruso of Criterium Caruso Engineers investigate 'as quickly as possible' any responsibility the developer, Jerry Miller or Miller-Gallman Developers may have in the failure of the retaining wall behind Phase II - a problem that ended up costing GIL homeowners more than $200K to remedy less than two years later.

Interestingly, Kit Sutherland, who was on the GIL Board at the time - although not yet serving as President - appeared to take an keen interest in the growing problem early on, as that same e-mail indicates that a week prior to Jones' request of Beecham, she had already met with Gary Caruso - the engineer Jones had tapped to look into the reasons behind the failure of the slope's stabilization. (Continued...)